On Monday (11 March), STO Express announced that its controlling shareholder, Shanghai Deyin Investment Holdings Co. Ltd., plans to create a new subsidiary that will own a 29.9% stake in the courier firm.

Alibaba says it will pay 4.66bn yuan (US$693.3mn) for a 49% stake in the new subsidiary and, in turn, it will hold more than 14% of STO Express.

In a statement, Alibaba confirmed its investment in "one of the top five express delivery companies in China".

"We will deepen our existing collaboration with STO in technology, last-mile delivery across China and New Retail logistics," the company said.

"This investment is a step forward in our pursuit of the goal of 24-hour-delivery anywhere in China and 72 hours globally.”